Sunday, January 01, 2012

This Year I will LIVE

Well, the first day of the New Year will be coming to an end in just a few hours. It has been an exhaustingly good day here.

We welcomed the New Year with a semi quiet evening at home with Hilarie and her family and Jeff's parents. We enjoyed good food and played games. The kids ran wild until well after midnight. And then 9 AM Sunday school came very quickly!

I hope you have some wonderful things planned for the year.

Our church is taking part in the E100 Challenge. In the next 100 days, we will read the 100 " big picture" passages from the Bible. I am really excited about this. I've read Day 1 - Creation: Genesis 1 and 2 and Day 2 - The Fall: Genesis 3. Following the daily plan, I should complete it around Easter.

On the 16th of this month, I will be leading The Frazzled Female Bible study at church. I am excited at this as well. It looks like we are going to have a great group of women gathering for this 6 week study. I would love for you to take part in it as well. I will be posting my thoughts and reflections throughout the study, so feel free to grab a book and join in!

I recently read a post by Patti at Wives of Faith about her theme for the year. It got me to thinking about life, about things I've been reading, about how I've been living. So, if I had to choose a theme for this year, I would choose LIVE.

Why?

I've been reading Sara Horn's God Strong, a gift given to me by our church's youth group while Jeff was away at CH-BOLC. And so much of what she says has really struck a chord with me. I must LIVE what I BELIEVE.

I trust God.
I know God is in control.
I know that God has a plan.
I believe that Jesus will walk by my side regardless of my situation.

I, however, don't know what this year holds for me and my family. The Army Chaplaincy board will be meeting soon to decide whether or not Jeff will be a chaplain. If he is, then there is always that possibility that he could be deployed.

If he is deployed or my family is faced with any other type of hardship, I can't lose faith in my Jesus.

I have to LIVE my life by what I BELIEVE. I have to LIVE my life being the best me that I can be. I have to LIVE my life learning to say no and asking for help. I have to LIVE my life focused on God.